Difficulties Immigrants Face in the Employment Sector in Canada Every year Canada attracts hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the country. Each immigrant has different reasons for migrating to Canada whether it be to better the life of their family in a safer environment or due to the employment opportunities held in the country. In 2005, a longitudinal survey was conducted and asked immigrants what they like most about Canada. The number one attraction to immigrants was the social environment with 32%, followed by opportunity with 24%, next was the safety and security the country offers with 22% and lastly the climate with 19% (Stat Can, 2005). However, under the opportunity category the educational sector was much more attractive to immigrants rather than the employment sector by almost 6% which is significantly high. This is due to the various difficulties immigrants are facing in the employment industry when they arrive to Canada. Challenges Faced In order, the following is a list of difficulties that immigrants have come across when trying to obtain an employment in Canada. (Stat Can, 2005)
§Not enough Canadian job experience §No connections in the job market §Foreign experience not accepted §Foreign qualifications not accepted §Lack of employment oppoortunities §Not enough Canadian job references §Language problems §Not able to find a job in their field §Not knowing enough people working §Not having family or friends who could help §Discrimination §Not knowing how to find a job §Child care/transportation constraints §Not knowing the city One of the biggest challenges faced by immigrants today is the ability to find an employment position as a new immigrant in the country. According to Statistics Canada, the main reason immigrants face such a great difficulty finding employment is due to the lack of Canadian job experience. In a longitudinal survey conducted in 2005, it was noted that the main difficulty in finding employment for new immigrants aged 25-44, was the lack of Canadian job experience, followed by the lack of connections and networking in the job market (Stat Can, 2005). It is evident that the more people one knows, the more opportunities which could arise for the individual. The concept of networking is very crucial when it comes to seeking employment, especially when one is new to the country. Once an individual starts to expand their network and meet new people, employment opportunities could be obtained fairly easier as they can be referred by others. Another challenge which is constantly brought upon new immigrants is the difficulty they have using their qualifications from another country to obtain an employment in Canada. “In 2006, the proportion of recent immigrants with a university degree was twice as high as among native-born Canadians (Stat Can, 2009).” Hence, many of the immigrants which are coming to Canada arrive with credible educational background. According to Statistics Canada, 58% of male immigrants and 49% of female immigrants held at the minimum a bachelor’s degree when immigrating to Canada in 2006 (Stat Can, 2009). However, employers tend to ignore the fact that some of these immigrants are credibly educated with university degrees.This leaves immigrants with no choice but to apply and settle for jobs with lower educational requirements, even though they may not be in their field of study. “In 2006, 28% of recent immigrant men and 40% of women held this kind of employment (Stat Can, 2009).” The issue they face is that they can not make use of their educational credentials, and are thus stuck working in jobs with lower educational requirements such as cashiers, taxi drivers, truck drivers, sales associates and janitorial duties. Language Barriers As a new immigrant, there are a couple things which one should focus on to increase the chances of obtaining an employment. Knowing that Canada’s main language is English which is then followed by French, immigrants must put forth an effort to learn the basics of the language as they are going to need the language skills in order to communicate with others daily. Hence, when one arrives to a new country the language barrier between English and their mother tongue language may impose a challenge to the employer and applicant. And with the large number of immigrants which are coming to Canada with a mother tongue that is not English or French it makes things increasingly difficult for an employer to hire them if they are not able to communicate with each other. In 2001 and 2006, the top 3 non-official languages in Canada were Spanish, Italian and German (Canada Immigrants, 2009). It has been observed that older immigrants feel less comfortable learning a new language because of their age as opposed to someone an individual is younger which could learn the language fairly quicker. Consequently, this could have an impact on the jobs that an immigrant would be eligible for, and increase the risk of them working a job with lower educational requirements.
Time Brings Change As time goes by, the difficulty for immigrants when looking for jobs in the educational sectors they are credible in is rising. The comparison between the year 1991 and the year 2006 shows a tremendous difference in relation to the difficulties immigrants hold finding jobs that they are educationally credible and able to work. As the years go by, the number of immigrants whom have resided in Canada for a long term with university degrees and are employed in jobs with low education requirements continues to rise.“In 1991, about 12% of long-term male immigrants with a university degree had jobs with low educational requirements. By 2006, this proportion had increased to 21%. Among long-term female immigrants, the increase was more modest, but their rates were higher. Between 1991 and 2006, their rate rose from 24% to 29% (Stat Can, 2008).” There are many factors which contribute to the difficulties immigrants face in attaining an employment which they are credibly educated to work. One factor which ahs not been mentioned is “the immigrant class in which the individual gained admittance to Canada, that is, refugee, family reunification and economic immigrant (Stat Can, 2008).” It is possible that an employer take characteristics like this into consideration before hiring an individual, even if the individual is credible educationally to work the job. In the hopes of a new beginning, everyday immigrants are working jobs with low educational requirements which they are much too qualified to work. Immigrants are constantly turned down and told they can not practice a job which they have went to school and obtained a diploma for. But nonetheless, in some cases immigrants have no choice but to settle for jobs with lower educational requirements like taxi drivers or custodial services as they can not find a job in their field and still need a source of income in order to survive. Today, the country is in need of people to step in and acknowledge the educational credentials that some immigrants bring with them, if they are willing to learn the Canadian customs like language and other skills which will help them why not make room for more educationally credited individuals in the employment sector in society?
Works Cited "Immigrants' education and required job skills." Statistics Canada: Canada's national statistical agency / Statistique Canada : Organisme statistique national du Canada. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-001-x/2008112/article/10766-eng.htm#tphp>. "Sociodemographic characteristics: Canada Immigrants." Canadaimmigrants: Employment Immigration: Canadian labour market. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.canadaimmigrants.com/statistics2.asp>. "Study: Immigrants' education and required job skills." Statistics Canada: Canada's national statistical agency / Statistique Canada : Organisme statistique national du Canada. 22 Dec. 2008. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/081222/dq081222b-eng.htm>. "Table 8: New immigrants aged 25 to 44 who experienced difficulties finding employment: Types of difficulties experienced, by immigration category and time since arrival." Statistics Canada: Canada's national statistical agency / Statistique Canada : Organisme statistique national du Canada. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2007000/t/4169309-eng.htm>. "Table 2; What immigrants like most about Canada, by immigration category (Cited 4 years after arrival)." Statistics Canada: Canada's national statistical agency / Statistique Canada : Organisme statistique national du Canada. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2007000/t/4097872-eng.htm>.
Every year Canada attracts hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the country. Each immigrant has different reasons for migrating to Canada whether it be to better the life of their family in a safer environment or due to the employment opportunities held in the country. In 2005, a longitudinal survey was conducted and asked immigrants what they like most about Canada. The number one attraction to immigrants was the social environment with 32%, followed by opportunity with 24%, next was the safety and security the country offers with 22% and lastly the climate with 19% (Stat Can, 2005). However, under the opportunity category the educational sector was much more attractive to immigrants rather than the employment sector by almost 6% which is significantly high. This is due to the various difficulties immigrants are facing in the employment industry when they arrive to Canada.
Challenges Faced
In order, the following is a list of difficulties that immigrants have come across when trying to obtain an employment in Canada. (Stat Can, 2005)
§ Not enough Canadian job experience
§ No connections in the job market
§ Foreign experience not accepted
§ Foreign qualifications not accepted
§ Lack of employment oppoortunities
§ Not enough Canadian job references
§ Language problems
§ Not able to find a job in their field
§ Not knowing enough people working
§ Not having family or friends who could help
§ Discrimination
§ Not knowing how to find a job
§ Child care/transportation constraints
§ Not knowing the city
One of the biggest challenges faced by immigrants today is the ability to find an employment position as a new immigrant in the country. According to Statistics Canada, the main reason immigrants face such a great difficulty finding employment is due to the lack of Canadian job experience. In a longitudinal survey conducted in 2005, it was noted that the main difficulty in finding employment for new immigrants aged 25-44, was the lack of Canadian job experience, followed by the lack of connections and networking in the job market (Stat Can, 2005). It is evident that the more people one knows, the more opportunities which could arise for the individual. The concept of networking is very crucial when it comes to seeking employment, especially when one is new to the country. Once an individual starts to expand their network and meet new people, employment opportunities could be obtained fairly easier as they can be referred by others.
Another challenge which is constantly brought upon new immigrants is the difficulty they have using their qualifications from another country to obtain an employment in Canada. “In 2006, the proportion of recent immigrants with a university degree was twice as high as among native-born Canadians (Stat Can, 2009).” Hence, many of the immigrants which are coming to Canada arrive with credible educational background. According to Statistics Canada, 58% of male immigrants and 49% of female immigrants held at the minimum a bachelor’s degree when immigrating to Canada in 2006 (Stat Can, 2009). However, employers tend to ignore the fact that some of these immigrants are credibly educated with university degrees. This leaves immigrants with no choice but to apply and settle for jobs with lower educational requirements, even though they may not be in their field of study. “In 2006, 28% of recent immigrant men and 40% of women held this kind of employment (Stat Can, 2009).” The issue they face is that they can not make use of their educational credentials, and are thus stuck working in jobs with lower educational requirements such as cashiers, taxi drivers, truck drivers, sales associates and janitorial duties.
Language Barriers
As a new immigrant, there are a couple things which one should focus on to increase the chances of obtaining an employment. Knowing that Canada’s main language is English which is then followed by French, immigrants must put forth an effort to learn the basics of the language as they are going to need the language skills in order to communicate with others daily. Hence, when one arrives to a new country the language barrier between English and their mother tongue language may impose a challenge to the employer and applicant. And with the large number of immigrants which are coming to Canada with a mother tongue that is not English or French it makes things increasingly difficult for an employer to hire them if they are not able to communicate with each other. In 2001 and 2006, the top 3 non-official languages in Canada were Spanish, Italian and German (Canada Immigrants, 2009). It has been observed that older immigrants feel less comfortable learning a new language because of their age as opposed to someone an individual is younger which could learn the language fairly quicker. Consequently, this could have an impact on the jobs that an immigrant would be eligible for, and increase the risk of them working a job with lower educational requirements.
Time Brings Change
As time goes by, the difficulty for immigrants when looking for jobs in the educational sectors they are credible in is rising. The comparison between the year 1991 and the year 2006 shows a tremendous difference in relation to the difficulties immigrants hold finding jobs that they are educationally credible and able to work. As the years go by, the number of immigrants whom have resided in Canada for a long term with university degrees and are employed in jobs with low education requirements continues to rise. “In 1991, about 12% of long-term male immigrants with a university degree had jobs with low educational requirements. By 2006, this proportion had increased to 21%. Among long-term female immigrants, the increase was more modest, but their rates were higher. Between 1991 and 2006, their rate rose from 24% to 29% (Stat Can, 2008).” There are many factors which contribute to the difficulties immigrants face in attaining an employment which they are credibly educated to work. One factor which ahs not been mentioned is “the immigrant class in which the individual gained admittance to Canada, that is, refugee, family reunification and economic immigrant (Stat Can, 2008).” It is possible that an employer take characteristics like this into consideration before hiring an individual, even if the individual is credible educationally to work the job.
In the hopes of a new beginning, everyday immigrants are working jobs with low educational requirements which they are much too qualified to work. Immigrants are constantly turned down and told they can not practice a job which they have went to school and obtained a diploma for. But nonetheless, in some cases immigrants have no choice but to settle for jobs with lower educational requirements like taxi drivers or custodial services as they can not find a job in their field and still need a source of income in order to survive. Today, the country is in need of people to step in and acknowledge the educational credentials that some immigrants bring with them, if they are willing to learn the Canadian customs like language and other skills which will help them why not make room for more educationally credited individuals in the employment sector in society?
Works Cited
"Immigrants' education and required job skills." Statistics Canada: Canada's national statistical agency / Statistique Canada : Organisme statistique national du Canada. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-001-x/2008112/article/10766-eng.htm#tphp>.
"Sociodemographic characteristics: Canada Immigrants." Canadaimmigrants: Employment Immigration: Canadian labour market. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.canadaimmigrants.com/statistics2.asp>.
"Study: Immigrants' education and required job skills." Statistics Canada: Canada's national statistical agency / Statistique Canada : Organisme statistique national du Canada. 22 Dec. 2008. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/081222/dq081222b-eng.htm>.
"Table 8: New immigrants aged 25 to 44 who experienced difficulties finding employment: Types of difficulties experienced, by immigration category and time since arrival." Statistics Canada: Canada's national statistical agency / Statistique Canada : Organisme statistique national du Canada. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2007000/t/4169309-eng.htm>.
"Table 2; What immigrants like most about Canada, by immigration category (Cited 4 years after arrival)." Statistics Canada: Canada's national statistical agency / Statistique Canada : Organisme statistique national du Canada. 1 Feb. 2009 <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2007000/t/4097872-eng.htm>.